Skip to content
Denise Fairchild is the Founder and former President of Community Development Technologies Center (CDTech), a training, applied research, and technical assistance organization specializing in community development strategies. In partnership with Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, CDTech launched the nation’s first community development program at the community college level. Other groundbreaking initiatives include the creation of an [...]
Carol Williams is the Executive Director of Interval House, a domestic violence shelter serving Long Beach and Orange County. She has led the organization since shortly after its founding in 1979. Today, Interval House maintains shelter facilities to provide comprehensive services to survivors of domestic violence and their children. The organization offers counseling and a [...]
Oscar De La O co-founded Bienestar in 1989 and served as its Executive Director for 30 years. Bienestar is the nation’s leading voice on Latino LGBTQA+ health and civil rights, as well as Southern California’s premier Latino HIV services provider. Since its establishment, the organization has evolved into a multi-service, multi-center agency offering services throughout [...]
Bob Erlenbusch is the former Executive Director of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness, which used organizing, education, advocacy, and lobbying in its efforts. The Coalition gained recognition for its Bring Los Angeles Home! partnership to develop a comprehensive plan to end homelessness in the next decade in Los Angeles City and [...]
Debra Padilla is the former Executive Director of the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), a community-based arts organization dedicated to producing, presenting and preserving public artwork across Los Angeles neighborhoods. Working citywide on a grassroots level since 1976, SPARC has produced The Great Wall of Los Angeles, a half-mile-long mural and educational project. [...]
Mark Gold served as the Executive Director of Heal the Bay for 23 years, having joined the organization in 1988 as its first staff scientist. Heal the Bay is a grassroots organization with tens of thousands of members and volunteers, dedicated to maintaining healthy waters in the Santa Monica Bay and across Southern California. The [...]
Patti Giggans is Executive Director of Peace Over Violence (formerly the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women), a multicultural, community-based, and volunteer-centered nonprofit organization dedicated to building healthy relationships, families, and communities free from sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence. Since 1985, Patti has frequently served as a media spokesperson on issues related to violence [...]
Madeline Janis is the Co-Founder and former Executive Director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), a nationally-recognized organization that serves as an authority on issues affecting the working poor and an innovator in the fight against poverty. In addition to her work at LAANE, she has served as a volunteer commissioner [...]
Michael Held is the founding Executive Director of the Etta Israel Center, which has served children and adults in the Jewish community with special needs since 1993. Today, it is the largest agency of its kind on the West Coast. Michael has led Etta Israel to become a leading voice in inclusive education, partnering with [...]
Jonathan Zeichner is the Co-Founder and former Co-Director of Inside Out Community Arts (merged with P.S. ARTS since 2014). Inside Out engaged diverse and underserved middle-school youth through community events, performances, and after-school workshops led by teams of artists and high-school mentors. The organization was recognized for fostering collaboration between artists and youth to create [...]
